


A Conversation in Sickbay

by Setcheti



Series: Conversations [1]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Gen, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-05
Updated: 2013-12-05
Packaged: 2018-01-03 13:03:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1070775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Setcheti/pseuds/Setcheti
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Spock visits Sickbay to apologize to Captain Pike.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Conversation in Sickbay

**Author's Note:**

> Missing scene for the 2009 movie. After which it spawned an AU series, because almost everything I write spawns an AU series.

Captain Pike had been laying awake for some time in his bed in the quarantine room McCoy had insisted he stay in, worrying about his ship.  There had been a lot of maneuvering that had strained the inertial dampers, the sort of racing around that signified some sort of battle was going on, and then some kind of massive explosion had thrown the ship around like a toy – and after that, he hadn’t heard or felt the engines anymore.  As near as he could tell, the _Enterprise_ was dead in space.

It was driving him nuts.  He had yet to see a single member of his not-so-experienced command staff since Kirk had rescued him from the Romulan ship, and the few times he had seen McCoy the also not-so-experienced but luckily very talented acting chief medical officer had been fussing about the parasite currently attached to his brainstem and hadn’t been forthcoming about anything else.  The one thing Pike had been wanting to do more than anything else for hours now – other than kill the damned crazy future-Romulan, Nero, with his bare hands – was to just get out of bed and march up to the bridge and demand information.  Possibly even take command of his ship back while he was at it.

Of course, if he tried to get out of bed, the pain the parasite was causing him alone would probably drop him to his knees and make him throw up.  And even if he could make it to the bridge, he knew that he wasn’t anywhere near fit to be in command at the moment.  Which made him go back to fantasizing about killing Nero again.  The bastard had not only decimated half the Fleet, destroyed Vulcan, and nearly destroyed Earth…but he had been the one who had made necessary George Kirk’s heroic death all those years ago, creating a legend that couldn’t take the place of a much-loved husband and sorely-needed father.

Pike had often wondered how things might have been different if George Kirk had lived.

The door to the quarantine room easing open distracted him from his thoughts, and he was surprised but pleased to see that his visitor was his half-Vulcan first officer, Mr. Spock, rather than the very uninformative Dr. McCoy.  Or at least, he was pleased until he saw the look on Spock’s face.  The younger officer appeared to have something on his mind, and none of the guesses Pike’s imagination came up with were reassuring.  “Mr. Spock, I didn’t expect to be seeing you down here,” he observed as casually as he could.  “What’s the problem?”

Spock looked just slightly more ashamed of himself than Pike would have thought a Vulcan could be.  “I came…to apologize, sir.”

All right, that was a surprise.  “I don’t think I understand.”

The younger officer took a deep breath.  “I…it was not my decision to rescue you, Captain.  I was taking the ship back to Earth to stand with the rest of the fleet.”  He swallowed.  “Kirk argued against my decision, stating that we were to retrieve you at all costs.  I..ordered him detained.  He fought with Security, I incapacitated him and ordered him removed from the ship.”

And that was an even bigger surprise – the removal from the ship, not the fight.  Kirk’s relationship with at least one of the ship’s current Security officers went back three years and had never been friendly.  “Since he was here earlier, I take it that didn’t work out.”

Spock shook his head.  “I do not know how he returned aboard; we were already well underway when he and Mr. Scott, an engineer from the outpost near Vulcan, suddenly appeared in Engineering.  I had the two of them brought to the bridge, but they would offer no credible explanation—transporters are not capable of functioning over such distances, or at warp speed.  Kirk and I had words and I…lost my temper.  I might have killed him, but my father called me to my senses and I was forced to declare myself unfit for command.”

Which would have been Kirk’s idea all along, of course, although Pike wondered if the younger officer had anticipated that angering a Vulcan could be fatal.  “At which point I’m guessing Kirk took over, because I made him your first officer before I went to the Romulan ship.”

“Yes.  I returned to the bridge some time later, and he included me in the plans he was making as though nothing had happened.”  Spock swallowed again.  “In spite of the fact that marks from my fingers were still ringing his throat.”

Pike sat up, ignoring the pain the change in position caused.  “You didn’t kill him, and he’s not one to hold a grudge,” he said, pushing his pillow up so he could lean back against it.  “And whatever plan he came up with must have been the right one, because I’m here and Earth is still here and my ship isn’t space dust – although I’d really like to know what you boys did with her engines.”

A brief flash of amusement sparked in the depths of Spock’s dark eyes.  “We were being pulled in by the black hole, as Nero’s ship already had been.  Mr. Scott thought that jettisoning the warp cores and detonating them might push us out of the hole’s gravitational pull, so Captain Kirk ordered him to do so.”  He shrugged.  “It worked, and Mr. Scott did have the forethought to save back one core so that life support would not be dependent on the potentially damaged auxiliary system.”

“I’m not sure whether I should love this engineer or be afraid of him,” Pike snorted.  _Captain_ Kirk.  He wondered if Spock even realized he’d said it, decided he probably hadn’t.  The respect, though, was there, and that boded well for both men’s futures with the ‘Fleet.  “So you snuck in here to apologize to me because your first thought when everything hit the fan was to head home for help, and because you tried to kill the guy who not only disagreed with you but who also came back and proved you were wrong, is that it?”  He rolled his eyes when the Vulcan nodded hesitantly.  “Mr. Spock, you don’t have anything to apologize for.  You made the best decisions you could, and for someone only a few days out of the Academy they were solid ones.”

Spock frowned.  “Kirk…”

“Is not you,” Pike reprimanded.  “And we’ve taught you better than to compare yourself to another commander.  Kirk is a master tactician – if you need any more proof of that than you’ve already got, play chess with him sometime.  You have your own strengths that are equally valuable, and I’m _certain_ ,” he emphasized, “that if you hadn’t been emotionally running on backup thrusters you would have handled things differently.”  He frowned sympathetically.  “I saw what happened to the planet, you know.  As weak as it sounds, considering the magnitude…you have my condolences.”

“Thank you, sir.”  Spock didn’t quite sigh.  “I do not, however, feel that I am ready for command after the…events of the past two Standard days.”

“I can understand why you’d feel that way.”  Not to mention that he would have been more than a little concerned if the younger man _hadn’t_ felt that way, Vulcan or not.  “All I can tell you is to go with your gut, Spock.  If you aren’t ready now, then take a step back and give it some time and I’m sure you will be in the future.”  He smiled slightly.  “This was one hell of a trial by fire for you boys.  I’m sure there are people questioning their career choices all over the ship right now.  But you are not less of a man, or less of an officer, for thinking that maybe you’d like to stay out of the big chair for a while.  Because if you really feel that way, then it’s the right decision.”     

Spock nodded, if a little reluctantly…and then suddenly he stiffened.  “He’s coming.”

Pike didn’t have to ask who it was that the Vulcan’s sharper-than-human hearing had picked up approaching, as only one person on board would cause that kind of reaction for Spock right now.  In less than a minute he heard the voice of the ship’s acting captain on the other side of the closed door.  “Hey Bones, got a minute?”

Footsteps came past from the opposite direction, bringing the doctor’s reply with them.  “Maybe even two, if you’re actually here to ask me for medical attention.”

“I was busy before, this is the first chance I’ve had.”

“You mean the adrenaline finally wore off and now it hurts.  Okay, hop up on the bed over here…no, leaning on it doesn’t count.  Here, let me help…”

“No.”  A sigh, and the shuffling noise of help being fended off.  “ _No_ , Bones.  If I lay down now, I’m not going to be able to get back up.  Don’t give me that look.  Now are you going to help me or should I just head back upstairs?”

McCoy grumbled.  “Stubbornness is not your most endearing trait.  I can take a look…can you take your shirt off at least?”  A pause, and a pained noise.  It was the doctor’s turn to sigh.  “All right, that was a big ‘no’.  Jim…”

The younger man’s voice was muffled, as though he had it buried in something, most likely the surface of the bed he was leaning on.  “I still have work to do.  I shouldn’t have left the bridge…but it was really starting to get to me, so I told Sulu I’d be right back.”  A pause.  “He and Chekov are too inexperienced to take the con, and no one else is left who can.”

“Spock…”

“Had to declare himself unfit for command.”  Kirk’s voice became clearer again, as though he’d raised his head.  “Crap I wish I hadn’t had to do that to him.  But I can’t put him back in now – and even if I could, I wouldn’t.  I don’t care if he is a Vulcan; he just lost his home and his mother, right now what he needs to be doing is spending time with his dad.”

Silence.  “I can’t disagree with that,” the doctor said at last.  “All right, hold still while I pull what’s left of this shirt up…what the hell?!  Jim, where did you…”

“Keep your voice down – do you want to wake Captain Pike up?” Kirk hissed at him.  “Yes, that’s the main reason I came down here, all right?  It was starting to feel hot, I think it might be infected.”

“Brilliant diagnosis, _Doctor_ Kirk,” McCoy snapped, but in a much lower voice.  “And don’t try to tell me the Romulans did this, because I know for a damned fact they don’t have claws.  Where the hell were you when this happened?”

A thinking pause, then, “I think it was teeth, not claws, actually.  And where I was…wasn’t important.  Can you put something on it so it doesn’t get any worse?”

“Yes, I can.”  McCoy’s voice was slow, deliberate, and coolly angry.  “I’m guessing you picked up those patches of what look a little like frostbite in that same unimportant place, right?  And the damage on your hands…”

“Bones,” Kirk’s voice was just as deliberate, “I already told Starfleet, in front of the bridge crew, that Spock _sent_ me to the outpost on Vulcan’s third moon to see if the engineer stationed there could help us with the damage already done to the ship.  As far as they’re concerned, the pod malfunctioned on the way down, I ran into someone else who’d been stranded there by the Romulans, and between the two of them we figured out what was going on and I came back to let Spock know that he was running right into a trap.  He decided he wasn’t in any condition to lead us through a battle, so he ceded command to me.”

Pike could almost hear McCoy’s jaw dropping – and he could plainly see Spock’s.  Kirk was still talking.  “It was my fault, what happened on the bridge before.  I shouldn’t have lost my temper; if I hadn’t, he might have eventually listened to me.  And I’m not going to ruin his career because I’m a hotheaded idiot, all right?  You know me better than that.”

“You’re right, I do.”  McCoy sighed, tired this time.  “All right, brace yourself; this is going to hurt like blazes.”  And it did, if the – thankfully, muffled – sounds Kirk made were any indication.  Both Pike and Spock winced in sympathy.  “That should do for right now, and I took some samples for testing.”  The doctor hesitated.  “How…how big was it?”

“About the size of a house.  And it _jumped_.”  Kirk’s shaking voice sounded somewhat put out about the whatever-it-was having had the temerity to do such a thing.  “It came up from under the ground like a bad holo-vid monster.”

“Sounds like that’s going to be worth a nightmare or two.”  McCoy was apparently checking over other injuries, if the small grunts and occasional pained hiss which could be heard were any indication.  “You’re not having any trouble swallowing, or breathing?”

“It hurts, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“It wasn’t.  Here, straighten up and let me put a wrap around those ribs.  I don’t dare give you any painkiller stronger than an aspirin without knowing a little more about the house-sized jumping underground monster that tried its teeth on you, but some support should help.  Hold your breath…just a second more…okay, that did it.”  Another hesitation.  “Anything else?”

If a smile could be audible, Pike reflected, the one Kirk was giving his friend nearly was.  “Nothing that won’t keep.  Thanks, Bones.  And I promise, I _will_ come back down and let you do your thing just as soon as I possibly can.  But right now…”

“You’re the captain, I know.”  McCoy’s gruff voice held a note of understanding and a certain amount of pride.  “So you’d better get out of my Sickbay and back to minding the store, _Captain_ , before I change my mind and pull medical rank to keep you down here.  After all, the ship’s dead in space right now; how much more damage could Chekov and Sulu possibly do to it?”

Kirk actually chuckled.  “I don’t think I want to find out.  If you need anything, I’ll be on the bridge.”

“I know.”  Silence, several heartbeats worth, as the footfalls of the Enterprise’s acting captain faded off out of Sickbay and disappeared.  Then the doctor’s footsteps came back, pausing just outside the quarantine room door.  “I know you two heard that,” McCoy said quietly.  “I won’t say anything.  But if they court-martial him…Starfleet can shove my commission up its collective ass.”

They heard him leave the room, and Pike shook his head.  “We’re not going to let that happen – I won’t, anyway.”  He cocked an eyebrow at the still-stunned Vulcan.  “It was a stupid stunt, but I know for a damned fact that Kirk had accepted his score from the second test as the one to go on his record _before_ he signed up to take it the third time; he was trying to make a point, not get a better grade.  There should never have been a suspension, or a hearing, and Admiral Nogura is going get an earful from me about that once we get back.”  He looked directly into Spock’s dark, troubled eyes.  “He’ll also be hearing about how well Kirk did on that ‘reconnaissance mission’ you sent him on, damaged pod and house-sized jumping monster and all.  What he won’t be hearing is just how big of a fairy tale I’m sure Kirk’s whole report from the bridge was, because I don’t want to hang either one of you out to dry.  I think you’ve both learned your lesson.”  He sat up again, ignoring the spike of pain that radiated up into his skull.  “Find out from our new engineer about the pod, whether the outpost received any signal from it or not; if it had been damaged in the first attack it wouldn’t have launched at all, and a bad landing would have set the emergency homing beacon off.  Then you might want to go inform one particular Security officer who’s got a thing against cadets from Iowa that I’m planning to recommend him for a promotion…to head of the outpost our new engineer just left.  And after that I want you to do as your acting captain thinks best and go spend time with your father.”  He raised an eyebrow.  “Got all that, Mr. Spock?”

“Yes, Captain Pike.”  Spock turned toward the door, hesitated, and then left the room without looking back.  Pike sighed and pulled his pillow back down so he could lay flat again, feeling the urge to sleep at last.  He knew what was going on now, Nero was dead…and from the sound of things his ship was in good hands.


End file.
